The tragedy Baldwin’s family is experiencing from losing their son Lennon, 15 years old, cannot be minimized. The suicide of this young man has been highly publicized in the midst of several episodes of bullying done by older classmates.
When Bullying Leads to Suicide The Survivor May Be Able to Sue
In this case, the Morris County Surrogate’s Office has issued the boy’s mother, Sharon Varnelas, letters of ‘administration ad prosequendum’. In order for a person’s relative to be able to bring about a wrongful death lawsuit on the behalf of the departed person’s estate, the paperwork is required.
According to Varnelas’ filing, she feels that her son’s death was the result of a default, neglect, or wrongful act, and because of this the mother has brought about a lawsuit against the Morris School District Board of Education.
Although, James M. McCreedy, the attorney for the school district has declined to make a comment on the mother’s filing, he made the comment that everyone feels very bad about the boy’s death.
A statement was issued by McCreedy expressing sympathies to Baldwin’s family for the tragedy that is simply unspeakable. He also stated an on-going internal review of what happened on the school grounds is underway.
There are Some Questions that Arise Over this Situation:
Some bullying did occur on the school grounds. Even though Baldwin made reassurances that the bullies were only playing around with him, was the ball dropped on a student that was obviously being bullied by the staff of the school?
While the bullies admitted guilt to the bullying and were suspended from school for a few days, couldn’t more have been done, especially since it was taking place right under their nose?
While there are continued mandates being heard in this and other school districts, why are situations such as this being allowed by some staff members of the schools? How can the mandates help students like Baldwin if they are going to be ignored?
If you were bullied, and you have solutions, we welcome your comments at http://survival-over-suicide.org/